The present invention is directed generally to an agricultural wheel mounted forage box which includes a longitudinally extended bottom wall for stable towing and an associated elevated cross conveyor for transverse discharge to a truck or the like.
Commercially available forage accumulator boxes, such as that manufactured by Balzer, are longitudinally shallow and transversely wide for accumulating forage on a continuous upwardly and outwardly inclined bottom wall. A single conveyor on the bottom wall is operative to discharge the material upwardly and outwardly to a waiting truck or the like.
Problems associated with this type of unit are that it is very wide and clumsy, that the elevated conveyor discharge hangs over oncoming traffic when towed on the road, that it is too wide for many bridges, and the weight is distributed on such a wide wheel base that it trails or tows poorly. Furthermore, when towed behind a self-propelled cutter, it doesn't fit between rows when a field is opened up. These problems are resolved by the forage accumulator box of the present invention.
Accordingly, a primary object of the invention is to provide an improved forage accumulator box.
Another object is to provide a forage accumulator box which is elongated in a fore and aft direction for handling and towing stability.
Another object is to provide a forage accumulator box having transverse shape and dimensions suited for towing on a road with oncoming traffic.
Another object is to provide a forage accumulator box having a transversely directed discharge chute which is movable transversely inwardly for reducing the effective width of the box.
Finally, another object is to provide a forage accumulator box which is simple and rugged in construction and efficient in operation.